Convert pinball to virtual pinball

[MBZ6301]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I wouldn't say that it's overly complicated. Don't get me wrong, it's complicated but compared to learning something like Windows Server or Routing & Switching, it's just not on that level.

Just wait til you get the itch to start designing your own tables There are so many great ideas to be had, but after spending a while trying to learn rulesets and then programming the stuff is just ridiculous lol. Maybe one day...

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Just wait til you get the itch to start designing your own tables There are so many great ideas to be had, but after spending a while trying to learn rulesets and then programming the stuff is just ridiculous lol. Maybe one day...

I saw the pages and pages of code that was written in the designing of these games. It was ridiculous. I just can't image how long that took. I don't think I have any interest in coding. It's too much for me.

[Gift]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Nice project, I like playing "pinball FX" with my friends every once in a while - unfortunately just on my TV. Looking forward to see how this turns out

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

A new addition to the game room. A Miller Beer Light for the foosball table.



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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

This will serve as a warning to anyone thinking of building their own VP machine.


DON'T DO IT.

I'm only half joking.

The first thing you need to know is that it's incredibly expensive if you go all the way and build a truly custom table.

Secondly, it's a enormous job getting things to fit correctly. You don't want to spend a bunch of money and your VP looks like a 2nd grader did the woodwork. Be warned.

Third. Running down the parts (and there's a ton of 'em.) is a job unto itself.

You'll also have to spend a lot of hours learning how to set up the software. Once all of my parts arrive, I expect to spend many frustrating hours spent to get it to work.


/END RANT/

I just went to the ends of the earth to get the AC/DC graphics that I wanted. I literally couldn't find them anywhere. Finally, I called the company that builds the actual machine and asked them if they would sell me the artwork that I need.

The guy laughed pretty hard before he told me no. He said that it wasn't for sale. I laughed and said: "everything is for sale if the price is right."

He got a good a good laugh out of that one. That kind of broke the ice and we got to talking. He was actually one of the engineers that wrote the code to many of the games and one of the owners of the company. Long story short, we worked out a price and he was reasonable. I was shocked. We talked for almost 45 minutes and he gave me a lot of good advice.

They sell finished VP machines. If you've got about $10,000, they are the best.


I'll give the link to his company because he was such a cool dude.


https://recroomworld.com/index.html

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I'm mocking up the back box. That piece of wood at the bottom is where the 2 speakers and laptop monitor will be mounted. I'm gonna wait til they arrive before I cut the holes.

See below:



backbox2.jpg

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

acdc3.jpg

...

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I'm still waiting on my graphics card and some other stuff to come in. This is what's been delivered thus far.

Lot of work ahead of me.



pb2.jpg

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

Some of my parts were delivered today...others are running late. While I'm waiting on parts, I continue to customize what I can. This is a picture of DMD cover that I cut out and covered in faux leather. I ordered the 5 inch speaker grills from Harley Davidson. The skulls should fit in nicely with the AC/DC theme.



hd2.jpg

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

My graphics card was delivered today.


Here's my gaming PC on a budget.


Dell Optiplex 9020
500 Watt Power Supply
1TB SSD
16G Ram
I7 CPU
Nvidia GTX 1060 Graphics Card

It actually performs quite well to my surprise. It should be more than enough for virtual pinball @ 1080p.

While some parts are still due to arrive later in the week, I can now get started setting up virtual pinball.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

The shortage of semiconductors is affecting my ability to build my vitual pinball cabinet. And when I did find the chip I needed, it was 3x above the normal price.

With that being said, I have installed the needed software and have 2 tables up and running. Vitual pinball isn't real pinball, but it's very good. Ands this is without installing any tactical feed back by using a shaker motor, solonoids, ect.

There's about 10 pieces of software that need to be installed for a VP cabinet. That's time consuming. Fortunately, this process has been automated via a program called Baller Installer. For anyone thinking of building a VP cabinet, this is the way to go. A huge time saver.

When I can find the time, I'll be installing the tactical feedback hardware in order to make it feel like a real pinball machine. This is gonna be a long and time consuming process.

Wish me luck.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I'm at the stage to where I'm learning to download and configure the different pinball tables. There are 3 different type files that are needed for each table. There's a ton of configuration that needs to be done after installing the table. And finally, you'll need to customize each table and work out any bugs.

And I didn't even mention getting everything to show up on the correct monitor. I'm using 3 monitors.

I'm doing this with the PC and monitors sitting on on work table. Once I get everything working and tested, I will then mount in the pinball cabinet. But there's a looooooooooong ways to go.


See below: the first pic is of the 2 monitors used for the backglass and DMD (keeps score). The other picture is of the playing field on a 40" monitor.


afm2.jpg


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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I made a lot of progress today. I got loading the tables down pat and it's now old hat. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination but it's not rocket science, either. I downloaded more tables and they are freakin' awesome. Especially the AC/DC table. The Tron table is pretty awesome, too. It's not as simple as just downloading the tables and playing. Nope. You have to set them up and fine tune things. It was a lot to take in but worth the work.


I layed out all of my power supplies, step down transformers, contactors, solonoids and various other electronics. I need to get them to where they're being controlled by the code that was written into the games. Another mountain to climb.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

I took 2 giant steps forward today with my VP build. First, I discovered something called a "Pup Pack". These are software files that add music, video, and a bunch of other cool shit. Game changer. I don't even have the words to describe how cool it is.

I also learned how to map buttons to the corrosponding key on a keyboard. I played my first game of virtual pinball using buttons instead of a keyboard.

The hardest part is yet to come. I still have to install the hardware and get it communicating with the software. But I think I have a pretty good grasp on how to set it up. I hope.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Convert pinball to virtual pinball

You know, every time I take on one of these projects, it never goes like I envision in my head. It's not necessarily any harder than I imagined...just different. There's a couple of forums on the internet that are devoted to virtual pinball. There are a lot of coders on the forums and I haven't a clue what they're talking about 99.9% of the time. And to be honest, I don't want to know. However, there are simple changes that I must make to the code. It's simply following instructions and that's it.

In one of the pinball tables, there are 77,000 lines of code. This was written by J.P. Salas and apparently he is king in the VP world.


Anyway, I've installed about a dozen tables and have them customized exactly the way I want 'em. It took a minute to learn how to navigate around the program.

I'm waiting on one more chip to arrive on Friday and then I can install the hardware.